ILOILO City – As part of measures to secure today’s national and local elections, a two-day liquor ban started on Sunday.
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) released Resolution No. 10746 imposing the prohibition on selling, buying, serving, or taking intoxicating liquor.
Comelec Commissioner George Garcia said violation of liquor ban is punishable by imprisonment under Omnibus Election Code.
An hour after the liquor ban took effect, a 39-year-old drunk nurse was arrested in Sitio Bolabog, Barangay Balabag, Boracay Island, Malay, Aklan.
Kirby Adriatico, a native of Dipolog City who was vacationing in Boracay was taken to the Malay police station.
According to the police, the suspect ordered liquor and food from a bar but when it was time for him to pay, he said he had no money.
Foreign tourists are exempted from the liquor ban, according to the Comelec, but hotels, resorts, restaurants, and other establishments that cater to foreign tourists will only be allowed to operate if they have a prior written authority from election officers in their areas.
As the nation prepares for Monday’s elections, Garcia reminded voters that “this is the best time to pray and pray hard.”
“A historic moment like this should never come to pass without realizing that election is such a blessing of democracy,” the poll body official said on Saturday. “It’s not about winning nor losing but a great test of our nationhood, of our maturity as a people.”
Garcia said “suffrage is an equalizer like no other” and “our vote is an expression of sentiment and desire for a brighter future.”
“It is a reminder to the leaders that the ultimate source and repository of power is the sovereign. Let us vote and proclaim to the entire world that we control our own destiny,” he said./PN
